$(function() {
$('.error').hide();
$('div.hidden').hide();
$("#journal").submit(function() {
    // validate and process form
    // first hide any error messages
$('.error').hide();

var title = $("input#title").val();

if (title == "") {
        $("label#title_error").show();
        $("input#title").focus();
  return false;
}

<label>Title</label>
<input type="text" size="50" maxlength="100" value="" name="title" id="title" />
<label class="error" for="title" id="title_error">This field is required.</label>